Elizabeth smiled. “Pray do not be alarmed. I merely wished to take a little air, and I did not wish to disturb the wedding.”
The maid blinked, then bobbed a quick curtsy as Elizabeth continued on.
She slipped out through the kitchen door and into the open air.
The warmth struck her at once.
For December, it was astonishingly mild—the sun bright, the sky clear, the air fresh without being sharp. Elizabeth drew in a deep breath, closing her eyes for a moment as though she might drink it in.
“Oh,” she murmured softly. “How I have missed this.”
She took a few tentative steps—and then, unable to help herself, quickened her pace.
Yes.
This had been needed.
She walked without direction at first, simply following the line of the house, keeping to the gardens at the side where she would not be seen from the drawing room windows. The gravel crunched softly beneath her feet, the movement settling something restless within her.
For the first time in days, she was alone.
Completely alone.
The quiet made room for thought.
Papa.
She slowed slightly.
How could he have done what he did? To drug her? To take her away? To force her to marry someone other than Darcy, to marry a stranger.
Elizabeth’s hand tightened faintly in her skirts.
It did not make sense.
Unless—
No.She stopped herself. She would not untangle it here. Not like this. Not now.
She reached the far end of the garden and turned around, facing the house. Rosings loomed above her, and she wondered how long they would remain there.
A movement near the front caught her attention, and she watched as the parson put his hat on his head and began to talk down the path.
It was done, then.
Richard and Anne were married.
A small, genuine smile touched her lips. She turned back toward the house, intending to return before her absence could be discovered. Darcy, she knew, would soon be in search of her.
She had almost reached the servants’ door at the kitchens through which she had made her escape, when a sudden sound gave her pause: the crunch of wheels upon gravel.
Elizabeth froze. A carriage coming up the drive was not unusual, but an odd sense of unease settled over her. Something in her chest tightened, and she hurried back to the front of the house, watching in dismay as a familiar carriage came into view.
Her breath caught.No. It cannot be.
Horror-struck, she watched as it rolled to a halt before the steps. The door opened, and a man stepped down.
She gasped.
